A WIDOW whose husband died when a yacht capsized during a hospitality event has reached an undisclosed out-of-court settlement with the firm that organised the event.
Businessman Peter Curry, 44, and a friend, Alan Barwick, died on a trip on the Lone Signature in tempestuous seas at the mouth of the Tyne in April 1998. The yacht had set sail from Newcastle, and despite the conditions, continued into the open sea. The skipper was cleared of manslaughter after two trials.
The trip had been arranged by builders' merchants Matthew Charlton, of Hexham.
Sue Curry's solicitor, Jamie McCabe, said the settlement was a modest sum.
In a statement, Mrs Curry, 45, from Ponteland, Northumberland, said: "I am angry at Matthew Charlton for failing to accept at the outset its responsibility and for dragging it through the courts."
Charlton Group chairman Ailene Charlton said in a statement: "We have expressed sympathy to Mrs Curry many times but our position is, and always has been, that Matthew Charlton was not liable for the claim.
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